Yorkshire Comicon 8, yes that was a while ago but I wanted to mention how wonderful it was and how lovely everyone was that we met. It was a lovely day, seeing friends and people I have met before, along with new friends too. Yorkshire Comicon was significantly improved with the entry system and the way the capacity was handled. All-in-all, great day out!

Eurogamer, well that was so much fun! Casually Hardcore interviewed me and two friends, and we got stopped for pics. The amount you could do there was fantastic and I want to go again. Next time though I will cosplay for one day and then go a second day to play games. Kudos to Total War I now have Attila to play too!

Nottingham Comicon, well that was the Saturday and I had a lovely day. Myself and World Breaker Cosplay were there and it was a lovely time. We got to see cosplay, look at comics and I brought The Meek from Dark Pond Creations.

So what else? Well we also went out to the Robin Hood Pageant, which is the jousting event. It was so much fun! I was cheering for the bad guys, because the gentleman portraying Guy of Gisbourne just caught my eye as a great horseman. My partner also got me a short-sword and shield because it has the Jolly Roger logo on it. Such fun, and even better when your friends are involved and cheering with you.

Now I am going to quickly go into the cosplay drama that people seem to come across and quickly address how I cope with some of it.

When drama kicks off and it’s between friends – DO NOT get involved! Don’t do it, because when all is said and done, if they make friends again YOU usually end up the bad guy. So let people argue, don’t step in, unless you think it’s about to cross a line no one can come back from and you think you are generally in a position to assist without harming your relations with them

Negativity – Look we’re all going to do this, have a bad day, have a day where we know that everything sucks but don’t let someone who spends their entire online life bring you down too. I am sorry, but if all I see from you is drama, drama and he said – she said… I won’t bother to follow you or comment. Why? It’s not worth it. And this is completely true with groups, if xxx group is making you feel so bad you just want to rage about your feed – leave the group. Your friends will understand, if they don’t are they really friends?

Taking all the generalizations to heart? “All cosplayers are drama queens” well thanks but no thanks. If they think that and are in that community the post itself is very much the exact thing they are. “All cosplayers who are fat shouldn’t wear….” Hello who died and made you king/queen of sweeping judgmental statements? No… people can abide by the rules of the convention and wear what fits within that. Personally I don’t do the nearly nekked thing. That’s just me, I am a big ole girl and it’s not what makes ME happy. I have blocked people in the past for asking why I won’t do it, like I am there for their entertainment. Want a nearly naked Misty? Google it mate.

Stop comparing yourself to others – look it’s easy to do, I mean I look at some people with amazing things they can do and I want to cry about how much I suck… then I take stock. I am not a professional, I have a small sized desk to build 95% of what I can do and I am limited with my budget so what I do is save, trade, share and above all put it in context. If my job was to be a cosplayer I’d be there doing nothing but that. It’s not, so I am not going to compete or put myself down. With what I have, the time I have and the friends I have – well I have a good time regardless of the quality or it I brought it…

Simply put, you are who you are, don’t let people you have never met make you feel like you did something wrong. They are wrong for doing that to you.

This is a about perspective. It’s a new year and last year I learnt a hell of a lot, mostly about me and my own shortcomings, as a cosplayer but that’s a good thing, I think its part of life lessons as well as exploring my hobby more in-depth.

Positives from last year – I lost over 100 pounds in weight. FYI that’s like a whole person in some cases! Met awesome friends, saw fantastic costumes and learnt some amazing new crafting ideas.

Negatives – fell into some of the cosplay/popularity traps of getting frustrated by lack of pictures. Had a few times where I was sure I was going to give up and just go back to hiding in my flat. Panic attacks and anxiety issues.

Cosplayer – Your costume and you are fabulous, you don’t need to be told this, you already know it. Don’t belittle what you do, I am terribly good at convincing myself I am terrible. This is a process of mental instability and other outside factors, I want to tell you now I am fully aware of how self-destructive this can be.

Okay I love my costumes, getting a picture and part of the fun is someone stopping you to compliment you but getting angry or upset people don’t only harms you. The guy that shoved me aside for a thinner model, the one that told me I was too fat for a picture when I never asked him for one in the first place and the guy that promises to take a picture then doesn’t? They are upsetting but I can bet you they have already forgotten you, don’t waste time dwelling on them, it’s giving the, too much credit.

Feeling fat, crap or ugly? Nonsense. Someone somewhere loves you for who you are, and whilst you may not see it in that moment take time to reflect on it. I have been guilty of letting a strangers comments destroy me and my confidence and yet in that same day someone else, in fact probably more than one, has mentioned that I look good or my costume is cool. It’s hard not to dwell on a bad comment but honestly look back at the good ones.

This is not my chosen career, therefore I ask myself regularly am I keeping this in perspective? Selling prints, etc is all well and good if you are trying to make a model career or costume career out of it but if not then don’t be offended by it not being something that falls into your lap. It is not my career it is my hobby, if it was I would be at the gym for hours and over a sewing machine, or hiring a workshop. As I do not do this full time I don’t expect a full time span of attention for it. That said I love the idea that my hobby can be a thing I share and love with so may other people, career cosplayer or not.

So in summary, this year I just aim to have even more fun, keep being creative and let the positivity reap it’s own rewards.

Wish me luck!

And here’s a terrible mug shut of me with my super favourite prop at the moment. My Golden Retro Lancer from Gears of War. The lights awful but I hope that if you followed my blog you can see where some of the weight has fallen away 🙂

Back on the run of Cosplay stuff. Rin’s still got a few additions to go but that’s not stopped me looking around at other things.

Today’s is the amulet that Dante wears from DMC. Had lots of help, and advice. I am sure there are better ways to make it but for a first effort I am quite happy indeed.

I wanted to find a way to make it on a budget, I think that whilst we can all spend a lot of money on these things and enjoy trawling sites to get the best costumes if you are trying to do things without spending a fortune there are ways.

Firstly I do have Dante’s jacket and unlike the £117 pounds most sites advertise for his costume I got the jacket for £30 by being patient on Ebay. Fortunately the sellers measurements matched mine and so I got a good deal. I am particularly chuffed with this of course but on to the amulet.

Firstly, air dry clay for the sculpting, this cost £3.99 and there was enough to make a fair few of them anyway.

The chain was £2 from hobbycraft on a clearance sale. I am sure there would be better ones to use but like I say, attempting to do these things on a budget in case others are looking for help that way.

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The paint was silver model paint, £1.60 and then the red paint was Asda’s George Nailvarnish (on sale for £1) and the clear varnish was the same.

So the total cost was: £9.59. The ones I found on Ebay were around £30 or more.

Firstly the amulet was made, the basic shape then chain was fed through before the final shaping was done. After that the amulet base was left to try, it was easier to do this than to oven bake. Once the amulet was dried the base coat of silver was applied, I believe the only difference for Vergil would be to use gold paint. This was then built up over a few more coats to ensure that the clay underneath wasn’t visible.

Once the metal look was sorted out the red nail varnish was used to pain the red part in the centre. It took a few coats to get it to shine (picture may not really show that too well) but after they were dried off the clear nail varnish was put on. Again this was used to give the whole amulet a shine, the entire thing was painted with the clear nail varnish.

Once it was dry it was fine to put on and play with. It wouldn’t suggest dunking it in hot water or anything but for cosplay purposes it seems pretty tough and durable to wear. Obviously I doubt throwing it around would do it’s health too many favours but that’s how it was made and I think it passes for the job it’s intended to do.